During end of 1st Quarter Holidays (April 5th-16th), we conducted a camp with 100 students at Nonko School, 50 at Kagugu and 50 at Rwamagana primary schools. During this camp, students developed their own projects about Malaria. The schools decided to hold an event on the occasion of World Malaria day, April 25th, to show their best projects.

This camp has been a great success, the great projects developed by students using Etoys book, or programmed dialogue using Scratch, have been shared within students and community around school on World Malaria Day, April 25th. The student projects were talking about what is Malaria, its causative agent (mosquito), most susceptible individuals in the community, transmission mode, prevention, mythology about Malaria, as well as efficient treatment.

During the camp, students did creative research about Malaria, trying to understand why not all mosquito cause malaria, and why mosquito bed nets should be used during the night while sleeping and not the during the day. Mythology and traditional beliefs about malaria were very important projects developed by kids, because they have grown up with different thoughts about this devastating disease for example: malaria can been treated traditionally using banana beer, or caused by eating sugar canes, bad spirits, or can be transmitted through sharing the drinks, etc.

The creativity, culture of researching, and constructing things to help the community using laptops created the most powerful outcomes of this camp.
Our team contacted the national malaria program and they were happy to hear about our work and donated t-shirts to students at Nonko Primary School in honor of their completed projects.

The re-flashing process started on November 11th, 2010. The process was carried out in the compound of World Food Program in Kicukiro. WFP agreed to help the Ministry of Education with an access to its bound warehouse to store laptops and a facility of a room where laptops could be re-flashed, tested and inventoried.
OLPC Rwanda greatly contributed to the planning and execution of this process. We prepared the procedure to be followed and improved it, into a reference document that is currently used by the Government team (see attached appendix 1: Laptops re-flashing procedure).

So far more than 50,000 XO laptops have been re-flashed, tested and deployed to 92 schools country wide.

Reflashing process:

The reflashing takes place in 8 phases, which are:

Removing XO laptops from their boxes: This was done by putting out the laptops from the box but considering to return the bags of the laptops in the empty box.

Updating Firmware

Reflashing using Nandblast: This was after updating the firmware in a laptop, so it may go to face the sever which is using the Nandblast that contains the new build with new activities proposed, then waits there till the reflashing is done.

Testing the hardware of the XO: This was to make sure that the laptop that is going to be sent to a school doesn’t have any hardware problem like mouse, screen, microphone touch-pad, etc.
And also to test if the new built has been put on the XO during the reflashing.

Labeling: The labeling of the XOs was to put stickers on xos that show the name and the code of the school, the class in which the XO will be deployed.

Scanning: this was to compile data together, by scanning the code of the label on the XO and the S/N of the XO. This will help to know about all information on the XOs deployed in each school.

Labeling boxes: this was to help us to know how many boxes given to a school and how many XO laptops in each box. On each label on the box must be the name of the school, the code of the school, the province, the district in which the school is located and phone number of the Headmaster of the school.

Packaging: the packaging was done by making sure that each XO laptop returns in a box with a bag and being separated with it’s battery as it came from the store. This helps on the security of laptops while they are transported to a school.

While doing all these process, we were also aimed to explain to the Headmaster about the security, the role of the labels on the XO laptops and the guidance of the XO laptops.

Overview:

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) African Regional Workshop is designed to provide participants with a pragmatic understanding of laptops for learning at both the micro and macro scales. The micro scale involves how children learn and productive, joyful ways to use laptops for learning. The macro scale involves how to create high-quality learning environments for everyone, not just a few.

The workshop will have two tracks. One destined to project managers and government representatives that will explore the macro level of the implementation of a country-wide laptops in education project. Another for teachers and students with the objective of explore powerful ideas about the use laptops in educational environments through construction and expression. His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the
Republic of Rwanda concluded the workshop.

Presentations

Cambridge Workshop: September 17-19, 2008

On September 17-19, 2008, attendees from around the world, mainly Colombia, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and Mexico, attended a learning workshop at OLPC headquarters. Participants walked away with a better understanding of the XO laptop, learning and the goals of One Laptop per Child.

Overview:

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Regional Workshop is designed to provide participants with a pragmatic understanding of laptops for learning at both the micro and macro scales. The micro scale involves how children learn and how children use laptops for learning in productive, joyful ways. The macro scale involves how to create high-quality learning environments for everyone, not just a few. This workshop is part of a larger series of events both at OLPC and in other countries and localities aimed at building local capacity and forming an international network of organizations to deploy one laptop per child.

The workshop will be practical and hands-on, yet it is not a mere technical training. Participants will become familiar with laptops for learning and will use the concrete experience as a basis for reflection upon the learning process. Participants will also learn from the examples of countries already adopting one laptop per child at national levels so as to plan how to best implement in their own countries. Participants will also get to know each other to form their own learning network so as to enable richer development in each country and the region.

Discussion

Planning and Deployment
workshop for core team;
more comprehensive planning documentation;
guides for getting started - send this to the team;
what wiki pages you want to go to for starters?;
case studies;
whats needed for the members ofthe core team? - specific job description at regional, federal and local levels;
how do you transfer the knowledge;
level of self-certification;
how you know you are ready to work? - example- Geek Corps;
online training: form people who have already gone through the process
feedback - share your experience - you are part of the process and the community
____________________________

How do we sell the XO;
do you need a curriculum in order to learn?;
XO is not the only tool in the education;
suggestions:
teachers can share lesson plans/videos;
DoE should visit a pilot to see;
activites should have a goal and be a challenge;
have a model country;
place to share teacher's experiences;
learn more about XO in classroom;
a forum for teachers;
home use;
integrate to the community and family life (CEIBAL book)
_____________________________

core issue - need for social network - one place where everyone can come together
university involvement- how does the the university - incentives in order to help be a community that helps to support OLPC - research credits, etc, ground support
using wiki or facebook model for the creating network - reach teachers students tech suport - topic links, lesson plans, projects, archive of ideas, homework,
-students - network with others, activities/games - blogs, sharing, etc
indicators for Evaluation - # of users, exam scores, attritions rates, survey (teacher /student)

Photos

Asia Regional Workshop: July 28-August 1, 2008

The OLPC Asia Workshop, the first of several OLPC regional workshops, was held in Bangkok, Thailand at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) from July 28, 2008-August 1, 2008. Participants came from across Asia and the South Pacific to participate; learn more about the future of learning, technology and, of course, the XO laptop.

The primary objectives of this workshop were to explore:

a progressive deepening understanding of the learning process;

how the XO laptop enables more effective learning through construction, expression, and collaboration;

the roles of technology in general and one-to-one environments in particular;

the pragmatics of children, laptops and learning;

a regional and international network of practitioners of 1:1 environments

Please feel free to contact the OLPC Learning Team if you have any questions or concerns as you move forward:

May Cambridge Learning Workshop: May 21-23, 2008

This is the fourth in a series of workshops to be held at OLPC or in countries to strengthen deployment teams so as to maximize learning. Attendees should have a focus on learning; administering and implementing a 1-to-1 laptop initiative; working with children; working with teachers, schools, and communities; developing activities and content, or other similar educational issues.

Agenda:

May 20th Country Meeting: May 20, 2008

The OLPC May 20th event was a one-day conference that was attended by government officials, business, and organization leaders from around the world. European Parliament member, Nerj Deva delivered the keynote address.